Accident results in charges for two women

October 14, 2011

By

Kim Ross

Two women who were
injured in a single vehicle
accident near Lake Carl
Albert on State Highway
82 were formally charged
by the LeFlore County
District Attorneyâ€™s Office
Wednesday after it was
determined that the driver
was allegedly under the
influence of alcohol.
According to the affidavit
filed by Trooper Tim
Baker, he arrived at the
scene of the accident to
find a red Ford car that
had ran off the roadway
and rolled over.
According to a witness,
the car had been traveling
southbound and suddenly
ran off the west side of the
road then overcorrected
then overturned. Rhonda
Michelle Coffey, 40, of
Talihina, was ejected from
the vehicle while passenger
Jamie M. Courtway,
43, of Potosi, Mo., was
trapped inside suspended
by her seat belt.
A good Samaritan who
stopped at the scene of the
accident tried to assist
Courtway by cutting her
loose from the seatbelt,
but the Talihina Fire
Department had to extricate
Courtway from the
mangled wreckage.
According to Baker,
when he arrived he located
Coffey inside an ambulance
and upon questioning
her about the accident
noticed she smelled of
alcohol. He claimed her
speech was extremely
slurred and that she denied
being the driver of the car.
When Baker questioned
Courtway, he noticed that
she also appeared to have
been drinking and she also
did not recall who had
been driving until Coffey
claimed that Courtway
was the driver.
While administering a
breath test to Courtway,
Baker observed bruises
consistent with a passenger
seatbelt on Courtway
and determined that she
had lied and Coffey was
indeed the driver during
the accident.
Both women were
transported to the Choctaw
Nation Hospital and treated
for their injuries.
Coffey has since been formally
charged with driving
under the influence of
alcohol â€“ second or subsequent
offense, driving
with a suspended or
revoked license and failure
to wear a seatbelt.
Courtway was formally
charged with public intoxication.
Coffey is currently
free on bond awaiting
her next court appearance
next Friday.